Green Turk and Lyon

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Monday, February 20, 2017

Now that we're well into the rainy season, new growth is taking root in the sidewalk "Green Turk and Lyon" garden at St. Cyprian's church in San Francisco. Here's a look at our garden with some plant ID's and explanation of what's happening:

I added a few horkelia californica and they are doing very well on Lyon Street. This native plant has a musky fragrance year-round and small white flowers.

A coyote brush (baccharis pilularis) on Lyon Street was another newcomer - about a year ago - and has grown very rapidly.

At the top of the hill, the bed has some open areas and I'm hoping that some interesting new plants that have sprouted from seed will survive. I've also transplanted some California Mugwort and Douglas Iris here.

A big cloud of miners lettuce (claytonia perfoliata), an important local native plant, grows here. Last year's growth of miner's lettuce set a fair amount of seed, so it's now popping up in several of the beds on both Lyon and Turk Street. There are probably some California Poppies down below the miners lettuce that will be visible and in bloom by the summer.

At the eastern edge of the garden, I am allowing some kind of nettle to sprout again, as it did last year. Not sure if this is stinging nettle or hedge nettle, I just like it.

I transplanted another interesting native plant, Thimbleberry (rubus parviflorus), and it has slowly established here in the shade of a flax plant.

A car jumped the sidewalk, crashed into the building, cracked a pipe and took out one of the podocarpus here. I've plopped a few plants in - and some miner's lettuce is growing as well.

The car that jumped the sidewalk also took out one of the street trees. Miners lettuce grows in the spot for now - the tree stump still needs to be removed.

The Berkeley Sedge (a bunchgrass) that was initially planted in the garden almost six years ago looks particularly nice in this bed on Lyon Street.

More native plants that have sprouted from last year's seed on Lyon Street: miners lettuce and tarweed.

Monday, August 22, 2011

The concrete’s gone, the plants are in, purple spikes and yellow blossoms flash along the sidewalk. Once it starts raining, the permeable aspect – letting the rain water reach the aquifer instead of the sewer – begins. It’s green, healthy and just the start of what we can do together for a more sustainable future.

Any good project deserves reflection and evaluation. What went really well, what surprised us, what might we have done better, and how well did the city permit process work?

Planning

For a large project, get input from friends and neighbors – we held a Design Lab last fall to exchange ideas

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Turk and Lyon this Saturday -- The corner will rock, buzz, twang, and throb as gardeners, neighbors and friends get in the dirt, amend the soil, shovel, rake, edge new beds, and settle-in new plants. All to the accompaniment of live bluegrass, jug band, folk, and jazz tunes.

Erich Silvester (Hot Steel & Cool Ukulele) will delve into his rich repertoire plucking favorites from the jug band revival of the 1960s to his latest jumping uke sets from last month's San Francisco Free Folk Festival. NOPA's own Wigg Party will also send up the hill its hot band-buds to keep the green glow on the corner through the afternoon.

Friday, July 8, 2011

It's going to be Green. It's a Launch and a Lunch, a Workday and a Party.

NOPA neighbors and friends, stop by the corner of Turk and Lyon on Saturday, July 23 to help transform 160 square feet of concrete into landscaped, permeable surfaces. All the better for rainwater to replenish the aquifer, for runoff to be diverted from the sewers, and to provide a more attractive, livelier swath of green along the sidewalks.

The concrete squares will be removed a few days before the event, and the new spaces will be ready for topsoil, plants and permeable materials. Volunteer gardeners will amend the soil -- what lies below sidewalks at least 50 years old? -- and prepare the beds for planting. Helpers 16 years of age and older are encouraged to help with lifting, shoveling, and raking. Bring tools and gloves if you can.

Thursday, June 30, 2011

Our Green Turk & Lyon project is about to delve into the dirt to make this corner greener, more sustainable, and definitely more permeable (let the rain soak in, fill the aquifier and spare the sewer system). On Saturday, July 23rd neighbors from the North Panhandle, Anza Vista, Alamo Square, the Richmond, and the Haight (and anyone else too) will gather at Cyprian's to make the city's latest greening project happen.

Stop by, lend a hand and celebrate during the Turk & Lyon Green L(a) unch -- project kick-off, free green lunch and desserts, green door prizes, info on how you can transform your own sidewalk, and live music through the afternoon.

For those wanting to get in the dirt, we'll mix top soil into more than 20 squares formerly covered by concrete, place pavers for convenient crossing, and start the planting for a new community green spot. Tools will be available but bring your own if you can (trowels, rakes, shovels and gloves).

Thanks to everyone who joined the party and fundraiser at Chile Pies (& Ice Cream) last week -- all 60 of you and those unable to attend who also donated to the Green Turk & Lyon project. Your support helped raise $1100 that will bring greener sidewalks, benches and bike racks to the southeast corner of Turk and Lyon.

An occasion like this is always the result of help and contributions from many people. Thank you to everyone and special thanks to

Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi for designating community member Michael Helquist as District 5 Person of the Month for June and especially for all his efforts to support individuals and groups in this amazing district

Vallie Brown, Ross's legislative aide, who takes good ideas and guides them to implementation

Kalie Nickless, manager of Chile Pies, who made all arrangements incredibly easy

James Munden, neighbor and landscape architect with Marta Fry Landscape Architects, whose images of the Green Turk & Lyon project inspire us to create a model for green permeable sidewalks in NOPA

The members of St. Cyprian's Episcopal Church, led by Pastor Will Scott, for their ongoing engagement with the community and eagerness to transform the sidewalks along the church property for a green neighborhood respite

Next steps for the project will be a community meeting in July to review designs, workplans, and a timeline for removing the concrete and enlivening the Turk and Lyon corner. Date and time will be posted here on Green Turk and Lyon. Take a look at the corner this Saturday night, June 4, before a special concert, an Evening of Song, at Cyprian's.

Interested in volunteering or want more information?: greenturkandlyon@gmail.com

To donate to the project: so far we're set up to accept checks made out to St. Cyprian's Episcopal Church; please write on memo line: "Turk & Lyon Project". All donations will go to a separate Turk & Lyon account. Thank you!

Note: A variation of this story is being co-published -- as a time-saver -- with the site BIKE NOPA.